1. Francois Hollande to be Chief Guest at 2016
Republic Day celebrations
i. French President Francois Hollande will be the Chief Guest at the
67th Republic Day parade of January 26, 2016. The announcement might have been
finalised during the talks between French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius and
his counterpart Sushma Swaraj and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi.
ii. The visit of Mr. Hollande to New Delhi for the mega event will be
symbolic. It would also send a strong message of a worldwide solidarity among
the democratic countries against terrorism of the Islamic State (IS) which had
staged barbaric attacks on November 13, 2015 in Paris.
iii. Mr. Francois Hollande would be the 5th highest dignitary from
France to be Chief Guest of Indian Republic Day parade after Prime Minister
Jacques Chirac (1976), President Valéry Giscard d’Estaing (1980), President Jacques
Chirac (1998) and President Nicolas Sarkozy (2008).
iv. With this invitation, France now holds distinction of being the
guest of honour for the maximum five times of Indian Republic Day parade
followed by Bhutan (four times); Mauritius and USSR/Russia (three times each).
2. Swachh Delhi Abhiyan launched in Delhi
i. A special cleanliness drive, Swachh Delhi Abhiyan has been launched
in the national capital Delhi to remove debris and garbage lying in various
localities. The drive was launched by Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu
and shall continue in New Delhi till the end November 2015 month.
ii. Launched as part of Union Government’s flagship Swachh Bharat
Abhiyan. It is being undertaken up by the Union Government, Delhi government
and all the three Municipal Corporations of Delhi.
iii. Under the campaign, 3 municipal bodies in Delhi will clear the
garbage and the concrete waste will be lifted by the Public Works Department
(PWD) of Delhi government.
iv. Earlier, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had launched a special
mobile application to give a push to the drive. Using this app and appilication
people can send photographs of debris and garbage lying in their areas so that
the concerned agencies could take steps to remove them.
3. UP Government’s Clean UP, Green UP initiative
earns place in Guinness Book
i. Uttar Pradesh government’s ambitious Clean UP, Green UP initiative
has earned itself a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. Under state
government’s green drive initiative 10 lakh saplings were planted in one day
within a span of eight hours on November 7, 2015 at 10 locations in the state.
ii. This new record has surpassed the earlier record for plantation of
maximum number of tree that was 8 lakh 50 thousand trees in a single day. The
certificate for UP Government’s record-setting performance was awarded to Chief
Minister Akhilesh Yadav at the function held in Saifai in Etawah district.
iii. On the eve of state government’s ‘Clean UP, Green UP’ initiative
Chief Minister himself had planted peepal plant at Maudaha dam in Hamirpur
district. The initiative was executed through coordinated efforts of state
forest, irrigation departments along with Noida and Greater Noida Authority.
iv. Apart from CM, large number of women, teachers, students, armymen,
villagers and others had planted sapling of sheesham, pakar, neem, kanji, imli,
aonla, bargad, arjun, chilbil and peepal at different pre-decided spots across
state.
4. Supersonic interceptor AAD missile successfully
test fired
i. Indigenously developed supersonic Advanced Air Defence (AAD)
interceptor missile was successfully test fired from the Abdul Kalam Island off
the Odisha coast.
ii. The supersonic interceptor missile was launched after getting
signals from tracking radars. The missile moved through the trajectory path and
destroyed the incoming electronically prepared target missile in mid-air at an
endo-atmospheric altitude. During the test, the kill effect of the interceptor
missile was analysed from data collected by multiple tracking sources.
iii. The interceptor AAD missile has been indigenously developed by the
Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) under Ballistic Missile
Defence Programme.
iv. AAD missile is capable of destroying any incoming ballistic missile
at lower (endo-atmospheric) altitude, giving full-fledged multi-layer Ballistic
Missile Defence system to country.
v. It is a 7.5-meter tall and single stage solid rocket propelled guided
missile. It is equipped with a navigation system along with a hi-tech computer
and an electro-mechanical activator.
vi. It also has its own mobile launcher, sophisticated radars and
independent tracking system to secure data link for interception and homing
capabilities.
5. ASEAN leaders sign declaration for launching
ASEAN Economic Community
i. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders have signed a
declaration for launching ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) which would be similar
to European Union (EU)-style regional economic bloc.
ii. In this regard, Kuala Lumpur declaration on the establishment of the
AEC was signed by the leaders of 10-nation grouping chaired by Malaysian Prime
Minister Najib Razak at its 27th Summit held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It was
signed in front of world leaders including Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi
and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
iii. AEC would make ASEAN a single market with a free flow of goods,
capital and skilled labour in the region. Integrate Southeast Asia’s diverse 10
economies which has combine population of 620 million people and a combined
gross domestic product (GDP) of 2.4 trillion US dollars.
iv. Abolish tariffs on imports within the bloc member countries and
promote the liberalization of service industries such as retailing and tourism.
Calls for more free movement of and skilled labour within the region including
of doctors, architects and others with special skills.
v. Apart from this AEC, ASEAN leaders also adopted the declaration on
“ASEAN 2025, forging ahead together”. The ASEAN 2025 document charts the path
for building AEC over the next 10 years.
6. Mahatma Gandhi International Centre inaugurated
in Matale by Sri Lankan President
i. The President of Sri Lanka Maithripala Sirisena on 22 November 2015
inaugurated the Mahatma Gandhi International Centre (MGIC) inaugurated in
Matale. The Indian High Commissioner YK Sinha was also present at the
inauguration ceremony.
ii. The center was inaugurated as a tribute to the contribution of
Mahatma Gandhi to humanity and the continuing relevance of his principles and
philosophy to mankind.
iii. The centre was built at a cost of over 4 crore rupees. The Centre
consists of an auditorium, library, meditation centre and a conference hall. It
was funded under the Indian government's Development Cooperation Partnership
with Sri Lanka.
iv. It will provide a platform to reinforce the teachings of Mahatma
Gandhi and promote harmony among different communities. It will enrich the
lives of people through meditation and yoga and can also be used as a resource
centre for cultural activities. It will also help the youth to enhance their
knowledge in various fields through seminars, workshops and conferences.
7. Swati Dandekar appointed Executive Director to
Asian Development Bank by Obama
i. Indian-American politician Swati Dandekar was on 20 November 2015
nominated as executive director to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) with
ambassadorial rank by US President Barack Obama.
ii. Dandekar, 64, will succeed Robert M Orr, who has held the position
since 2010. Dandekar will serve as one of 12 international directors and hold
the title of ambassador.
iii. Obama announced his intent to nominate Dandekar to this top US
position in Asian Development Bank (ADB) along with other key administration
appointments and nominations.
iv. Swati Dandekar was the first-ever Indian-American to be elected to
Iowa House of Representatives in 2003. She was the first Indian-born American
citizen to win a state legislature seat in the United States. She served in the
Iowa House and Senate from 2003 to 2009 until she was appointed to the Iowa
Utilities Board in 2011.
v. She was also member of the Iowa Senate from 2009 to 2011. She
received a Bachelor of Science from Nagpur University and a Post-Graduate
Diploma from Bombay University.
8. Djokovic became 1st player to win ATP World Tour
Finals for 4th consecutive time
i. World number one Novak Djokovic on 22 November 2015 won the
season-ending ATP World Tour finals. In the title clash played in London,
Djokovic defeated third seed Roger Federer, in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
ii. With this, he also became the first player to win ATP world tour
finals for the fourth consecutive time. He also surpassed Ivan Lendl's 1987
feat, when he had won his third straight Tour Finals title in New York.
iii. Overall, this was the fifth time that Djokovic won this tournament.
He ends the year with 11 titles, including three Grand Slams, taking his total
to 10 majors.
iv. Besides, in the Doubles, the eighth seeded Indo-Romanian team of
Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea has ended as runner up. They lost to the second
seeded Dutch-Romanian team of Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, 6-4, 6-3.
v. Bopanna was appearing in his second season-end Finale, having reached
the final with Mahesh Bhupathi in 2012.
9. India Juniors won 8th Men's Junior Asia hockey
cup by defeating Pakistan
i. India’s junior men’s hockey team on 22 November 2015 lifted the 8th
Men’s Junior Asia hockey cup. In the finals played at the Wisma Belia Hockey
Stadium in Kuantan, Malaysia, India defeated arch rivals Pakistan 6-2.
ii. Harmanpreet Singh was the top scorer with four goals, Armaan Qureshi
and Manpreet chipped in with a goal each. For Pakistan, the two goals were
scored by Muhammad Yaqoob and Muhammad Dilber.
iii. Both nations have reached the final of Asia’s Premier Junior
tournament six times in the last 27 years and on 22 November 2015 India and
Pakistan squared off once again for the fourth time.
iv. Korea defended a 2-1 lead against Japan till the end to clinch the
bronze medal. This was third bronze for medal for Koreans in the 27-year
history of the Junior Asia Cup.
10. Pankaj Advani clinches 15th world title
i. India’s most successful cueist Pankaj Advani added another feather in
his cap by winning the IBSF World Snooker Championship after battling past his
Chinese opponent Zhua Xintong in the final to take his world title count to 15.
Advani, 30, once again mesmerised the green baize to prevail over the teenage
sensation 8-6 in the best-of-15 final at Sunrise Crystal Bay resort.
ii. The victory for Bengaluru’s ‘Golden Boy’ comes just after he
clinched the IBSF Billiards crown in September. He is also the first person in
history to take the short (6-Red) and the long snooker format in the same
calendar year.
iii. India’s poster of cuesport, who led 5-2 in the first session,
looked unstoppable against his talented opponent even after the break, but was
tested by the 18-year-old cueist in a match which saw top snooker at display.
Leading 6-2 after the break, Advani’s march was halted by Xintong when he
pulled back two frames to give the champion cueist a taste of his own medicine
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